Ohio State opened up their 2025 season with a massive victory over Texas last Saturday, beating the Longhorns 14-7 in Columbus. The win was their second over Texas in 2025, along with their seventh consecutive victory over a top-10 team since losing to Oregon in October.
By beating the Longhorns at home, teams from the SEC are still searching for their first victory at Ohio Stadium. Prior to Texas losing on Saturday, Tennessee, LSU, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky have all failed to leave Columbus with a win.
With the win over Texas, Ohio State extended their season-opening winning streak to 26 games, although only 25 are credited because wins in the 2010 season were vacated because of the “Tatgate” scandal while Jim Tressel was head coach. The winning streak is the longest active streak in the country, and the distance to second place got a little bigger over the weekend after Alabama fell at Florida State.
Air Force now currently has the second-longest active streak among FBS teams with wins in 19-straight season openers. The last loss for the Buckeyes in their first game of the season came in 1999 when they were beaten by Miami in the Kickoff Classic at The Meadowlands.
Ohio State has also won 38-straight season-opening games at home, with their last loss coming in 1978 against Penn State.
First time matchup
The Buckeyes welcome an FCS team to Ohio Stadium on Saturday. It will mark the first time Ohio State has played Grambling State. The Tigers will be the ninth FCS team the Buckeyes have played.
Ohio State is 11-3-2 all-time against schools currently playing FCS football, with their last loss coming in 1940 when Cornell beat the Buckeyes 21-7. This marks the fifth game for Ohio State against an FCS foe since 2007. The Buckeyes hosted Youngstown State in 2007, 2008, and 2023, as well as Florida A&M in 2013.
There will be 15 other college football games played this weekend around the country between FBS and FCS teams, with four of those games involving Big Ten teams.
Ohio State’s offense after one week
In a game where Texas quarterback Arch Manning dominated the headlines entering the contest, Julian Sayin actually outplayed the nephew of legendary NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. Despite throwing for just 126 yards, Sayin made all the right throws in the victory.
The final line would have looked a little better for Sayin had he not had a few passes dropped by his receivers. Sayin’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Carnell Tate early in the fourth quarter would wind up being the game-winning touchdown.
If there was one part of the offense that was underwhelming, it was the rushing attack. In fairness to C.J. Donaldson and James Peoples, they were trying to find holes against the Texas defense, which is one of the toughest groups to crack in the country.
Donaldson opened up the scoring in the game with a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, finishing with 67 yards on 19 carries. Peoples found room to run a little tougher to find, registering 20 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Expect the duo to have more success over the next two weeks as they take on Grambling State this week, followed by Ohio next week.
Just because Ohio State finished with less than 100 yards rushing in the game, it doesn’t mean the offensive line wasn’t working hard. Not only did the Buckeyes deny Texas defensive end Colin Simmons from making any noise in the game, the Longhorns as a team failed to register a sack, and were only credited with one tackle behind the line of scrimmage in the game.
After battling with Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa for the starting right tackle spot in preseason camp, Minnesota transfer Phillip Daniels earned the starting spot for the season opener, playing 59 snaps in the game. Onianwa did see time at right guard, registering 15 snaps while spelling Tegra Tshabola at times.
The Silver Bullets are back!
After catching just one pass in the Cotton Bowl victory over Texas, Jeremiah Smith hauled in a team-high six passes on Saturday. Even though Smith was targeted more, the sophomore still didn’t have much room to operate, gaining just 43 yards.
While Smith led the team in receptions in the game, Carnell Tate made the most important catch in the victory, bringing down a 40-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Tate caught two passes in the game for a team-high 49 yards.
The junior from Chicago has now caught a pass in all 29 college games he has appeared in. The only other Buckeye to reach double figures in receiving yards in the game was tight end Max Klare, who caught one pass for 11 yards.
The biggest story of the victory over Texas was the performance of the Ohio State defense in Matt Patricia’s first game as defensive coordinator. While Texas finished with 336 yards of total offense in the game, the Longhorns had just 157 yards through their first series of the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes were incredible when it came to rising up on fourth down, stopping Texas four times in Ohio State territory on fourth down, including a stop at the goal line in the first half, denying Arch Manning on a quarterback sneak.
Each level of Ohio State’s defense made big plays throughout the game. Despite losing their starters from last year, the defensive line made life tough for Arch Manning. Linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese displayed their tremendous athleticism in the victory, and the secondary showed why they are one of the top units in the country.
The performance quickly silenced any questions out there about how Patricia would be able to adjust to coaching at the college level.
One of the biggest defensive plays of the game came when cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. intercepted Manning with three minutes to go in the third quarter with the Longhorns just inside Ohio State territory. The interception was the second of Mathews’ college career.
At the other cornerback spot, Davison Igbinosun recorded a team-high 10 tackles, marking the first time in his career he has reached double digits in stops in a game. While Caleb Downs finished with five tackles in the game, it was obvious the Texas offense was trying to keep some distance on the All-American safety.
The Styles brothers had a memorable start to their final season at Ohio State. Not only did the Pickerington duo combine to make 13 tackles in the victory, they became the first pair of brothers since Justin and Zach Boren in the 2011 Sugar Bowl to start for the Buckeyes.
Even though Sonny Styles impressed at linebacker, his play was overshadowed by Arvell Reese. In his second start at linebacker, Reese notched a career-high nine tackles, along with registering the only sack of the game for the Ohio State defense.
Styles and Reese have shown they have the potential to be the most dynamic duo of linebackers in the country this season.
Despite there being questions about how the defensive line would perform with a group of new starters, the group held their own against the Longhorns. Unfortunately defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. was injured in the game, but the injury doesn’t sound serious and Jackson could be available for this week’s game.
Defensive tackle Kayden McDonald was active throughout the game, finishing with eight tackles, while defensive end Caden Curry added six stops. Former linebacker C.J. Hicks made one of the biggest plays of the game when he hurried Manning into an incompletion on fourth down on the final Texas possession of the game.
Now the Buckeyes will turn their attention to Grambling State. Saturday’s game will be the first time Ohio State and Grambling State have met. The Tigers opened up their 2025 season with a 55-7 win over NAIA foe Langston. Grambling State left little doubt in the result, entering the fourth quarter with a 48-0 lead.
The Tigers were able to do just about anything they wanted on offense, rolling up 474 yards against their overmatched opponent.
Grambling State’s general
Leading Grambling State into Columbus will be former Nebraska player and coach Mickey Joseph, who is now in his second season in charge of the program after taking over for former NFL head coach Hue Jackson.
After playing quarterback at Nebraska from 1988 to 1991, Joseph returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach, and eventually was elevated to interim head coach in 2022 following the firing of Scott Frost. During his abbreviated season as head coach of the Cornhuskers, Joseph posted a 3-6 record before the school went on to hire Matt Rhule.
The Tigers on offense
Starting at quarterback for the Tigers in their season opener was Southern transfer C’Zavian Teasett, who completed 20 of his 25 pass attempts for 203 yards, finding the end zone three times through the air. Last season, Teasett played in 10 games for Southern, throwing six touchdowns as he shared quarterbacking duties with two others.
Behind Teasett on the depth chart is Jacksonville State transfer Ashton Frye, who joined the Grambling State program prior to last season. Frye threw for 44 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening win against Langston.
By playing an NAIA school to open the season, Grambling State was able to use a number of running backs throughout the game. By the time it was all said and done, five players saw at least six carries in the game. After he was the second-leading rusher on the team last year with 403 yards, Tre Bradford paced the Tigers with 56 yards on the ground to open the season.
Along with Bradford, Byron Eaton Jr., Andre Crews, and Tony Phillips added rushing touchdowns in the victory. Even though Clyde McClendon Jr. didn’t find the end zone, the redshirt freshman was second on the team with 51 yards rushing against Langston.
Much like the running backs, plenty of wide receivers were able to get some work for Grambling State in the opener. Tyson George had the most yardage through the air in the game, recording 63 yards and a score last week. Along with George, Barron Miles, Andrew Frazier, and tight end Covadis Knighten all hauled in receiving touchdowns.
The Buckeyes will also have to keep tabs on 6-foot-3 receiver Nicholas Howard, who was Grambling State’s second-leading receiver last season.
How Grambling State lines up on defense
After gaining some confidence with a dominant performance in their season opener, the Grambling State defense is going to face a whole different animal on Saturday. Along with giving up just a touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Tigers held Langston to just 97 total yards.
Unfortunately for Grambling State, the talent Ohio State is going to throw at them is going to be at a much higher difficulty level, especially after the Buckeyes were rather vanilla with their play-calling in Julian Sayin’s first start at quarterback.
The defensive line for Grambling State will feature defensive end Bryce Cage, who recorded 49 tackles and four sacks last year. Along with being named preseason All-SWAC, Cage was also placed on the Stats Perform FCS National HBCU Player of the Year watchlist. Cage, Jon Horton, as well as defensive tackles Shayne Monsanto and Kilas Francis all were credited with half a sack in last week’s victory.
Along with Cage and Francis, Issac Washington and Warren Robinson are listed as starters on Grambling State’s depth chart.
Much like Ohio State, Grambling State likes to run a defense with two linebackers and five defensive backs. Entering this season, the starters at linebacker for the Tigers are Jamal Jordan and Marcellius Johnson. Following a 2024 season that saw him register 39 tackles and three interceptions, Jordan opened up the 2025 season with three stops.
Johnson saw some time in 10 games last season, finishing with 17 tackles and an interception. Josh Darling and Tory Morgan should also see some time on the field at linebacker in Saturday’s game.
The secondary of the Tigers will certainly have their hands full with Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, and the other Ohio State receivers this week. Expect preseason All-SWAC selection Blake Davis to take on the challenge of trying to keep the ball out of Smith’s hands.
Davis did a little bit of everything last season for Grambling State, finishing with 41 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, three interceptions, two sacks, a forced fumble, and even a blocked kick. Fellow cornerback Tyrell Raby is already on the board this year after picking off a pass last week against Langston.
Starters at the three safety positions should be Devin Williams, Christen Williams, and Quintin Talley.
Prediction
About the only hope Grambling State has in this game is to hope Ohio State forgets where Ohio Stadium is and doesn’t show up. The fact is, the Tigers just aren’t competitive when they take on FBS opponents. Since the start of the 2021 season, in five games against FBS opponents, Grambling State has lost all five games by a combined score of 252-23.
If the likes of Southern Miss, Arkansas State, and Louisiana were able to pummel the Tigers, imagine what Ohio State should be able to do on Saturday afternoon in Columbus.
The Buckeyes will want to try and get their offense into a rhythm early in Saturday’s game. It will be interesting to see just what Brian Hartline and Ryan Day ask Julian Sayin to do as the game goes on. After the win against Texas, they said they could have asked Sayin to do more, but the defense was playing so well that it wasn’t necessary.
Along with wanting to see Sayin take the next steps in his development as starting quarterback, Buckeye Nation will be itching to see more from the rushing attack after a pretty quiet season opener from C.J. Donaldson and James Peoples.
The biggest goal for Ohio State on Saturday will be to keep everyone healthy. Last week Kenyatta Jackson Jr. was banged up in the win over Texas and there are questions whether he can play this week. In all honesty, there is no reason to rush Jackson back onto the field with this week’s game against Grambling State followed by next week’s game with Ohio before the Buckeyes have a bye week.
Day and his coaching staff can not only afford to be more cautious with players in this game, they can also explore the depth chart a little more and get some guys on the field who aren’t projected to play a lot this season.
Unlike last week where points from Ohio State were at a premium, the Buckeyes should be able to put plenty of points on the scoreboard this week as they easily take care of their FCS opponent.
